System



W. H. ELEELT ET Al.

CONTROL SYSTEM FOR AIR LIFTS Filed May i5, 1922' S15/M. mdow n www Y m mm m mw# /1 VM mmf .WHW @uw www FV m V. no @.K w

Patented July 8, 1924.

intatta WILLIAM-H. ELBELT AND CHARLES H. BROOKS, OF HURLEY, NEW MEXICO.

ycoivrnxnu SYSTEM ron AIR Lrr'rs.

Application le'd May .15, 1922. Serial No. 561,079.

T 'all whom t mrtg/concern.' Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. ELnnL'r and CHARLES H. Bnotn'frs,l citizens of the United States, residing `at Hurley,` in the county of Grant and State of New Mexico, have invented a nevvkand useful Control System'for Air Lifts, 'of which'the following is a specification. 1

This invention relates lto a system for regulating discharge and maintaining submergence evel of one or more, air lifts lifting i liquids or liquids and solids, such as Water,

pulp, Water and ore,'fetc.` The accompanying drawings illustrate an `embodiment of our invention and referring thereto, Fig. 1 is an elevation partly in section of tivov Vair lifts connected for lcontrol according to this invention, the several parts being shown diagrammatically. F ig. 2 is a vertical section showing the submergence contro-lling valve.

In the drawings, 1 indicates the Well, tube or pipe which is connected alt its upper 'end to a discharge box 2 and is provided at its lower end with a foot piece 3 to Which is connected the compressed air supply line or pipe -1 for supplying the air required for the air lift operation. Said air line 1s connected to receive air from a compressed air tank 5, into which air is compressed by the usual compressor means 6, a valve 7 being included in the line or pipe connection from the said compressed air tank to each Well to control the supply of air to such Well, said valve being operated automatically 'as hereinafter set forth. A v

vIn the'particular application of oui` invention hereinafter described the airlift is used to lift a mixture of liquids and solids, for example, Water and ore, such mixture being supplied to the upper end of the Well pit 8 in which the air lift pipe 1 extends so that the mixture of liquids and solids will pass into the bottom of the Well pipe and Will be raised by the air lift operation to a height greater thanV that at which it ivas delivered. Any suitable means may be used for supplying the mixture of liquids and solids, for example Water may be supplied through a pipe 9 and ore may be supplied fronra bin 10 by feed means 11 and Chute or hopper 12, the

pipe 9 and chute 12 discharging into the pit he Water and ore may be mixed in the chute or hopper before passing to the p lt 8. lt is obvious that in thus feeding liquid and solid material into the pit by the usual mechanical devices and in the customary manner, there Willbe some variation 1n the rate of feeding 'such material, and itis therefore advantageous to provide means for maintaining a constant submergence level regardless of such variations. The air compressor 6 is equipped with a standard governor in the usual manner so as `to maintain a uniform pressure in the air receiver or tank 5, the compressed air being supplied to such receiver at sufficient volume and pressure to lift the maximum amount of ore and Water that may be delivered to any one lift of the system or to all of such lifts.

The length of the Well pipes 1 and the depth of the respective piece 8 for the Well or Wells should be such as to provide the required submergence for lifting the mixture of liquids and solidsfroml the level indicated at -a to the level of discharge indicated at Z9-- Thus for a liftV of 45 feet from @ha to 6kb, the air lift column from the bottomof the foot piece to the Itop of the Well tube should be about 125 feet giving about 65% submergenc'e or 8O feet from Ithe supply level o/-a to the bottom of the column. l

In order to ope-rate etliciently the level 'of of ore 'and Water or subm'orgence level of the pit 8 should always vremainas near as possible to the same height, and in order 'to effect this when operating one "or vmore lifts by one compressor, We provide aregulating device to control the amount of 'compressed air furnished to the foot piece of these colunins,'such device controlling the valve 7 as hereinafter set forth.

Vaive 7 is provided with a stem 14C', Which is connected to a diaphragm 15, and a diaphragm chamber 16, the construction being such that the opening in valve 7 is gradually increased when said stem rises V and grad. ually decreased when said stem falls. The diaphragm chamber 15 is connected by a pipe 17 to a Submergence chamber or pipe` support and pivotally connected to such valve stem, said lever being provided with adjustable balance weights 21 and 22 for producing adjustable downward lpressure on the valve stem tending to hold the valve l closed. Adjustable minimum and maximum vopening stops 25 and 24 formed, for example, as stop screws, are provided for the valve arm 19. It will be understood that the operation of the valve 7 by means of the diaphragm 15 is such that the valve is gradually opened or closed in the movement of the diaphragm so that the amount of air supply to the air lift apparatus is gradually varied in response to the operation of the diaphragm by reason of the variation of pressure in chamber 18.

- To set the apparatus, valve 7 is opened by lifting arm 19, so that the air lift action is increased, until the level of ore and water is pumped below open end of pipe or chamber 18. V'Valve 7 is then allowed to close sufficiently to permit the ore and water level to ,be brought back to line a-a (the desired submergence level) and at the same time entrapping a certain amount of air in chamber 18 and compressing it, say, to a pressure of about one-halfY pound per square inch, the minimum opening stop 25 being set to operate a little lbelow this point and prevent valve 7 from closing entirely. Then as the level of water and ore rises in pit 8, the entrapped air will be further compressed, thereby increasing the pressure on diaphragm 15, and causing valve 7 to operate so as to increase the opening therein, and admit more air to the foot piece of the well. More water and ore will then be lifted, causing vthe level of liquid in the well pit to return to the line a-a. The maximum opening stop 211 may be set at such a point as to limit the opening of valve 7 to a position which will allow sufficient air to pass to handle the largest volume of material which the air lift is required to handle. If the level of liquidA in the well pit falls below line a-a, a converse action will take place, the

resulting decrease of pressure in chamber 18 and on diaphragm 15, causing the valve 7 to more nearly close sov as to permit less air to pass to the well, until the level of liquid again rises to the line cL-a. It is possible, by the above described means, to hold the level of ore and lwater within limits of sav one foot above and below the normal submergence level awa, thereby ensuringagfeiiicient operation of the air lifts. The differof the'regulating device. It will be seenV that the operation of the above controlling mechanism to maintain the desired submergence is, within Vreasonable limits, independent of the pressure in the air supply lines. This fact is of great advantage when two or more -airlifts are operated from one air supply or compressor, as it enables thel supply of air to any one lift to be varied and regulated without varyingthe main. air

supply or regulating the compressor, and

consequently without aecting the' air supply to the other lift or lifts.

What we claim is: Y

1. In combination with a well having a pit, a well tube extending therein, and provided with air lift means and a compressed air supplyline therefor, a valve in'said compressed air line adapted to gradually vary the supply of air from vsaid line to the air lift means, a submergence chamber Vopening at its lower end into the well pit in' such manner that air is entrapped and compressed i in said chamber byliquid in the well pit, and pneumatic operating means for said valve connected to said chamber Vand operated by changes Vof pressure therein to gradually increase the flow of compressed air through said valve as the submergence of the well increases and to gradually decrease the flow Vof compressed air through said valve as the submergence of the well decreases, so as to tend to maintain appro-ximately constantV submergence.

2. A construction as set forth in claim 1 and comprising, in addition," adjustable means for limiting the opening'and closing movements of the valve. 3. In combination with a well having a pit, a well tube extending therein, and provided with air lift means and a compressed air supply line therefor, a valve in said compressed air line adapted to gradually vary the supply of .air from said line tothe air lift means, a submergence chamberopening at its lower end into the well pit 'near-the upper end of said well pit and exterior Vof said well tube and said air supply line in such manner that air is entrapped and compressed in said chamber by liquid in the well pit only when said liquid is near or above the desired operating level, and pneumatic operating means for said valve connected to said chamber and adapted to gradually operate said vvalve so as to increase the supply of air to said airlift means as the pressure in said submergence chamber valve so as to decrease the supply of air means for determining the maximum and to said air lift means as the pressure in said minimum opening positions of said valve. submergence chamber decreases, so as to In testimony whereof We have hereunto 10 maintain approximately constant submersubscribed our names this first day of May 5 gence. 1922.

4:. A construction as set forth in claim 3, WILLIAM H. ELBELT. and comprising, in addition, adjustable CHARLES H. BROOKS. 

